ABSTRACT
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the most serious microvascular complications in diabetic patients, and is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. The interaction between metabolic and hemodynamic factors leads to activation of the common pathways of diabetic kidney injury. Studies have shown that salvianolic acid can alleviate renal fibrosis and renal injury caused by diabetes by regulating renal tubular interstitial activator A, transforming growth factor-β1 and monocyte chemokine protein-1. It can also participate in the reconstruction of the glomerular extracellular matrix by affecting the expression of protein kinase ERK1/2 protein, which serves a protective effect on diabetic kidneys. Tanshinone can inhibit oxidative stress mediated glucose-induced kidney injury, inhibit the expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) activity, and improve the secretion function of beta cells in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Interstitial fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy can be alleviated by blocking TGF-β/ Smad, NF-κB and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. It has been suggested that salvianolic acid and salvianone are excellent candidates for prevention and treatment of diabetic nephropathy. We provide here the scientific basis for in-depth research and development of salvianolic acid and salvianone into drugs.
ABSTRACT
The 16S rDNA sequencing method was adopted to study the effects of mulberry leaf flavonoids, polysaccharides and alkaloids on intestinal microflora in db/db diabetic mice. The animal experiment was examined by the Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Ten db/m mice were control group and forty db/db mice were randomly divided into model group, metformin group, mulberry flavonoid (MF) group, mulberry polysaccharide (MP) group and mulberry alkaloid (MA) group. After intragastric administration for six weeks, fresh feces were collected for detection of intestinal microflora. There were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Saccharibacteria, Tenericutes, Deferribacteres, Verrucomicrobia, Cyanobacteria in each group. The results showed that the intestinal microflora of db/db mice changed significantly from phylum level to genus level. The proportion of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria in model group decreased significantly, and the proportion of Bacteroidetes increased. The difference in species abundance distribution between model group and other groups was significant, which indicated that the community distribution was disordered in model group. After administration, the Bacteroidetes, Lachnospiraceae, Roseburia and Desulfovibrio were effectively regulated, especially in the alkaloid group. The difference in species abundance distribution between drug-treated group and blank group also became smaller. It is suggested that the active components of mulberry leaf have the effect of improving the intestinal microflora imbalance in db/db mice.
ABSTRACT
Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicines, with widespread biological activities and a wide range of clinical application, especially in the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Tanshinone is one of the most pharmacologically active components isolated from SM, which has attracted considerable attention for many years. In this paper, the authors will make systematic arrangement and analysis for the published literatures on the research and development of tanshinones, including pharmacological activities, action mechanisms, and product development, and objectively analyze the related intellectual property rights, in order to provide a scientific evidence and reference for the further research and product development of tanshinones.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigate the regulatory effect of the total glycoside extracted from leaves of Rehmannia (TLR) and Dihuangye total glycoside capsule (DTG) on intestinal microflora in diabetic nephropathy rats. Forty-eight rats were randomly divided into the control group (C), model group (M), Huangkui capsule group (0.75 g·kg-1·d-1, HK), irbesartan group (27 mg·kg-1·d-1, YX), TLR low dose group (4.3 g·kg-1·d-1, DHYL), TLR high dose group (7.2 g·kg-1·d-1, DHYH), DTG low dose group (216 mg·kg-1·d-1, JNL), DTG high dose group (360 mg·kg-1·d-1, JNH). Rat model of diabetic nephropathy was induced by intraperitoneal injection of small dose of streptozotocin (45 mg·kg-1, STZ) and feeding high-fat diet and 5% glucose drinking water. After oral administration for two weeks, the 16S rDNA sequencing method was used to study the effects of the TLR and DTG on intestinal flora in diabetic nephropathy rats. The results showed that compared with the control group, the intestinal flora of diabetic nephropathy rats had changed from phylum units to the genus units. Moreover, the proportion of lactobacilli in the intestinal bacteria of the model group was significantly decreased, and the proportion of lactobacilli in the administration group was increased, especially the YX group, TLR low dose group and DTG low dose group. The data suggest that the total glycosides of Rehmannia glutinosa improved the disorder of intestinal flora in STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy rats.
ABSTRACT
This paper investigated the diversity of the silkworm excrement bacterial communities in different ages before and after drying, aiming to clarify the differences of bacterial communities in composition and bacterial abundance and the influences of drying treatment, and provide scientific basis for the efficacy of scientific connotation and utilization of silkworm excrement. High-throughput sequencing technique was used to measure the sequence of 16S rDNA-V4 variable region of bacteria in silkworm excrement. QIIME, Mothur and PICRUSt software programs were employed to sort and calculate the number of sequences and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for each sample. Thereafter, the abundance, distribution, alpha diversity index of species, beta diversity and bacterial communities diversity among different sample groups and predicted the bacterial gene functions were analyzed. In this study, the numbers of effective sequences for six samples were 259 250; the rarefaction curves showed a sufficient sequencing depth, and the number of OTUs was close to saturation. The bacteria in silkworm excrement belonged to the following five phylums: Proteobacteria (89.3%), Actinobacteria (5.0%), Firmicutes (4.4%), Bacteroidetes (1.1%) and Cyanobacteria (0.2%). The dominant specie was Cyanobacteria of the total bacteria identified, respectively. The abundances and diversities of the silkworm excrement bacterial communities have been reduced after drying treatment, especially the silkworm excrement of the fifth instar. PICRUSt analysis was performed to show that abundance of the functional genes such as membrane transport, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, cellular processes and signaling were relatively high. The result showed that the drying treatment could decreased the species and numbers of pathogenic bacteria in silkworm excrement obviously and improve the quality of medicinal materials. Compared with the lower ages, silkworm excrement of fifth instar seems like to be more suitable for use in medicine. Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing system provides a more accurate and scientific data resource for the study of bacteria in silkworm excrement.
ABSTRACT
Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma residues were pre-treated with acid and alkali, degraded by using cellulose, and the effects of different processing methods on the extraction rate of tanshinones were compared to provide scientific basis for development and utilization of tanshinones from Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma residues. The results showed that in the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma residues without pre-treatment, enzymatic hydrolysis time of 4.5 d could make most of the cellulose degraded when the concentration of substrate enzyme concentration was 6 U•mL-1, and the highest glucose concentration was 59.74 mg•g⁻¹. It was found that the best effect was achieved after alkali pre-treatment-cellulose C degradation among the different pre-treatment methods, and the glucose content reached 119.50 mg•g⁻¹, followed by the same concentration of acid pre-treatment-cellulose C degradation. The extraction amount of tanshinone ⅡA was increased by 82.54% after enzyme degradation, with a mass fraction of 2.451 mg•g⁻¹; extraction amount of tanshinone I was increased by 81.82% after enzyme degradation, with a mass fraction of 2.373 mg•g⁻¹; extraction amount of cryptotanshinone was increased by 64.4% after enzyme degradation, with a mass fraction of 1.080 mg•g⁻¹; extraction amount of dihydrotanshinone I was increased by 61.3% after enzyme degradation, with a mass fraction of 0.601 2 mg•g⁻¹. Acid and alkali pre-treatment combined with cellulose degradation could effectively improve the extraction rate of tanshinones from Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma residues. This method is operable and practical, and it is beneficial for improving the utilization efficiency of tanshinones (resource based chemicals) from Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma residues.